Reflections on the Sept. 11 museum at ground zero

NEW YORK (AP) — Sept. 11 survivors, victims' relatives, first responders and dignitaries including President Barack Obama visited the National Sept. 11 Memorial Museum as it was dedicated Thursday. Here are some of their thoughts.

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"It was really inspiring. It was really upsetting, at points." — 14-year-old Patricia Smith, whose mother was a police officer killed at the World Trade Center

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"Like the great wall and bedrock that embrace us today, nothing can ever break us. Nothing can change who we are as Americans." — President Barack Obama

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"I wanted my nieces and my nephew and every person that asked what happened to see them and, maybe, understand a little bit better what I felt like to be us on that day." — Florence Jones, a World Trade Center survivor, who donated the shoes she took off while climbing down stairs to safety

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"To me, the battered remnants that survived are really poignant and moving." — Edie Lutnick, sister of a finance worker killed in the attack

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"It is our greatest hope that when people come here and see Welles' red bandanna, they will remember how people helped each other that day, and we hope that they will be inspired to do the same in ways both big and small. This is the true legacy of Sept. 11." — Alison Crowther, mother of a victim who became known as the Man in the Red Bandanna

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"You have your moments when there can be solitude, moments when there can be happiness, and a mixture of emotions through the entire museum." — David Greenberg, a finance worker who lost 12 colleagues at the World Trade Center

"There will be children born after 9/11 who only read about that day in books. Some of them might even think the people it happened to weren't real. We are here to help them know that they were." — Jim Laychak, whose brother was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks at the Pentagon

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"Walking through this museum can be difficult at times, but it is impossible to leave without feeling inspired." — Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, chairman of the memorial foundation